The planet’s newest volcano was officially born just southwest of Reykjavik last month.
If you thought thatvolcanoeswere ancient goliath born K of class ago , you might want to think again — some of them are literally * checks note of hand * rough two workweek old .
A new sister volcano was just born in Iceland on July 10 , 2023 , and it ’s already been attracting the aid of geologists and visitors alike thanks to its cool - looking eruption . Litli - Hrútur , which is where the unexampled vent is located , is part of a volcanic area called Fagradalsfjall , and it sits around 19 mile southwest of Reykjavik , IFLSciencereports .
It ’s not like a massive erupting mountain was just born overnight , though . This is a unlike form of vent . Specifically , on July 10 , three cracks appeared at the base of an Icelandic spate , and both gas and lava started gushing out . Since that date , two of the cranny closed up , but the third one not only remained open , it also grew into a larger volcanic crater , which has since grown to more than 98 groundwork .
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One could say that experts sort of saw this coming , though . The site of the baby volcano was dormant for the retiring 800 years , but in March 2021 an eruption took plaza . In August 2022 , that happened again , and now , thanks to the larger crater that has formed , the region has gain the title of Earth ’s newest volcano .
you could even go see it for yourself , too ! Initially , bureau had to throttle the site due to the sheer volume of toxic gasses and fast - flowing lava , but allot toBBC , since July 17 the sphere has been open back up to tourists ( although daily condition assessments are still required for safety reasons ) .
If you ’re notplanning a vacay to Icelandanytime shortly , there ’s no need to worry — you could still see the sister vent erupt via this livestream :
